|| 5.17 ||

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः। गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः।।

tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānas tan-niṣṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ gacchanty apunar-āvṛttiṁ jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ

tat-buddhayaḥ (those whose intelligence is always in the Supreme) tat-ātmānaḥ (those whose minds are always in the Supreme) tat-niṣṭhāḥ (those whose faith is only in the Supreme) tat-parāyaṇāḥ (who have taken complete shelter in Him) gacchanti (they go) apunaḥ-āvṛttim (to the path of no return) jñāna (by knowledge) nirdhūta (cleansed) kalmaṣāḥ (misgivings)

When one’s intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.

Kṛṣṇa outlines the state of total spiritual absorption. When a person’s intelligence, mind, faith, and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, they become fully cleansed of all misgivings and sins through the power of complete knowledge. Such a person proceeds straight on the path of liberation. This is ‘Apunar-āvṛttim’—the state of no return. They exit the cycle of material suffering forever. It is not enough to have a ‘hobby’ of spirituality; one must be ‘tat-parāyaṇāḥ’, meaning completely devoted and anchored. Every faculty of the human being must be dialed into the frequency of the Absolute. By being so focused on Kṛṣṇa, the past karma and mental stains (‘kalmaṣāḥ’) are simply washed away. Arjuna is being shown that the goal is not just to survive the war, but to use the war as a catalyst for this total mental absorption, which leads to the ultimate freedom of the soul.